When Republicans gather in Milwaukee next month to nominate him for president, Donald J. Trump planned to stay not in the convention host city but at a Trump hotel in Chicago, about 90 miles away, according to three people , who were briefed on the former president’s logistics.
That changed Tuesday afternoon after reporters from the Times and an ABC affiliate in Chicago reached out to his campaign for comment.
Mr. Trump now intends to remain in Milwaukee, two of the people briefed on his logistics said. The change avoids any negative perception of the largest city in Wisconsin, a key battleground state.
Mr. Trump has been on the defensive about his views on Milwaukee since news outlets reported last week that he called it a “terrible” city during a private meeting with House Republicans in Washington.
Following that report, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung countered, but added that Mr. Trump had denounced “how terrible crime and voter fraud is” in Milwaukee, reviving his false claims of voter fraud there in 2020.
And Mr. Trump offered a similar explanation to a Fox News reporter hours later, saying: “I love Milwaukee. I have great friends in Milwaukee,” while repeating his complaints about crime and non-existent voter fraud.
The original decision for Mr. Trump to stay at the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago was made partly because of his own preference and partly because of security and logistical concerns, according to one of the people with knowledge of the Chicago plan who insisted on anonymity to discuss sensitive planning agreements.
Mr. Trump has generally preferred to sleep in his own homes over the years while campaigning, and during his 2016 presidential bid he sometimes flew hundreds of miles to sleep in his own bed. It also remains possible that Mr. Trump’s plans will change again before the party conference begins on July 14th.
Alexi Worley, a Secret Service spokeswoman, referred questions about Mr. Trump’s detention to the Republican National Committee. In a statement, she said the Secret Service will work closely “with law enforcement and public safety partners to adjust security plans as necessary” to ensure a comprehensive security plan is in place for the convention.
Mr. Trump’s decision to remain in Chicago would almost certainly have contributed to Democrats’ attacks on Mr. Trump.
After his comments in Washington, the Democratic National Committee put up 10 billboards around Milwaukee to draw attention to Mr. Trump’s comments. On Saturday, Mr. Trump denied that Milwaukee was a “terrible city” in a social media post in which he took credit for choosing Milwaukee to host the convention.
“I chose Milwaukee, I know it well. It should therefore result in me winning Wisconsin,” he wrote. And he added: “Who would say something like that when this important state is at stake?”
Mr. Trump, who was in Racine, Wisconsin, on Tuesday for an afternoon rally, lost the state to President Biden by about 20,000 votes in 2020, a result partly due to voters in the Milwaukee suburbs showing their support for Mr Biden shifted. The state, which Mr. Trump won in 2016, was a crucial focus of both the Trump and Biden campaigns.
Mr. Trump continues to falsely claim that there was fraud in the election in Milwaukee, a solidly Democratic city, even though an impartial audit found no evidence to support that claim.
He also criticized Milwaukee during the 2020 campaign, calling it politically corrupt and citing it as an example of urban decay and violence that he said had spiraled out of control, while appealing for support from white suburbanites.
Mr. Trump has made similar comments about Chicago, where Democrats will host their convention in August. His Tower in Chicago, a skyscraper that soars 92 stories above the city, opened in 2009, was his last major construction project.
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2024-06-18 20:33:46
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